Flooring.



c. 1. CARTER.

FLOORING.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 19, 1915.

1,177,23 1. Patented Mala-28, 1916 CHARLES J. CARTER, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

FLOORING.

Specification Ltters Patent. Patent- 11 Maw, 2Q 1915 Application filed July 19, 1915. Serial No. 40,623.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, CHARLES J. CARTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain newv and useful Improvements in Flooring; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in.

the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to flooring, and more particularly to a built-up flooring for use in store-buildings, warehouses or docks, or in localities where the flooring is subject to hard and heavy wear; the principal object of the invention being to provide a structure possessing the cushioning quali ties of an ordinary board floor, but which is much more durable and less liable to destruction by fire.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a flooring of thisvcharacter which may be made up at a factory and laid in sections as easily and quickly as ordinary wood flooring.

While wood flooring is generally used, in store-buildings, warehouses, docks, .etc., where there is considerable travel over the floor, or where workmen or sales people are required to stand for relatively long periods, because ofits even surface and cushioning qualities, such flooring is objectionable to some extent, because of its liability to Wear unevenly and'itscombustibility. While flooring of other material may have more durable qualities than the.

wood, it is usually of such a hard, compact nature as to render travel thereover and standing thereon objectionable because of the noise, and. uncomfortable because of its inflexibility.

My invention is intended to overcome these objections by providing a floor which not only possesses the cushioning qualities of the ordinary wooden flooring. but has greater durability, is less noisy, and less liable to wear unevenly, and may be more easily and quickly repaired should a part of the floor become injured by a heavy object falling on it; the preferred embodiment of my-improved flooring comprising wooden blocksarranged on a suitable foun- .longitudinally has a dovetailed dation to present the ends of the grain for wear, and wherein the blocks are combined and united to provide a smooth and level wearing surface, and removably keyed to their foundation so that any one may be repaired without interfering with the other. In carrying out my invention, I have provided improved details of structure, the preferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure I is a perspective view of several sections of floormg constructed according to my invention, and particularly illustrating the spline key between laterally and abutting sections, a number of blocks being removed from the front sections to better illustrate the base and spline keys. Fig. II is an enlarged, sectional perspective View of parts of abutting sections- Fig. III is an end view of laterally abutting floor sections, in each of which the blocks overhang their base at one side and are back-set from the base at the other side, to provide a lateral key for abutting sections. Fig. IV is an end view of abutting floor sections wherein the base members have a tongue and groove joint.

Referring more in detail to the drawings:-l designates wooden blocks, which are mounted on base members 2, with the grain of the blocks exposed to form a wearing surface and with each block keyed to the baseboard (preferably, by dovetailing the parts together) the preferred construction being that wherein each block (which is of the same height as all of the others) head 3 seated in'a dovetailed socket 4 that runs the lengthof the baseboard. With a baseboard of this charactor, and with the blocks .provided with the dovetailed heads, the blocks may be arranged in close relation throughout the length-of the baseboard, and being of the same thickness will rest firmly on the baseboard and present an even top surface, so that when the section of flooring, composed of the baseboard and the blocks carried thereby, is set in a floor and combined with like sections, a smooth floor is provided.

As it is necessary to combine a number of sections of my improved floorin to comprise the floor of a building, doc z, or the like, I preferably key the sections'togethe'r by splines 5, which may seat in grooves 6 in the edges of blocks 1 in adjacent floor sections; the grooves 6 in each section being of Such depth that they will take one-half ofthe splineti, so that when an adjacent section is moved "against the first, the projecting portion ofthe spline will enter the set section to hold the forward section to the foundation and prevent its tipping or rising out of the plane of the floor.

If so desired the base members may be provided with ordinary tongues grooves, whereby they are keyed together in the manner usual with such construction.

As before stated, the flooring sections are made up at a factory, where all of the blocks are cut to the same length and assembled on baseboards, the length of the sections being determined by special or fixed specifications.

Where the flooring is to be installed, a sufiicient number of sections are delivered to the building and laid on and nailed to joists, girders, or false floors, as in the case of ordinary board flooring; the splines 5 and side grooves 6 in the block correspondingto the ordinary tongues and grooves with the exception that the splines are independent of the flooring sections and span the joints between sections in longitudinal abutment to key the sections together longitudinally'as well as transversely.

When sections in one row have been placed and nailed tothe supporting structure, sections for a succeeding row are moved thereagainst so that the projecting portion of the first section may take into the edge grooves in the) second section and thereby interlock the sections in-transverse as Well as in longitudinal abutment.

With the blocks offset on their bases 2 (Fig. III) the projecting base lips 5 underlie the overhanging edges of the blocks in the formerly placed sections so that the underlying base lips are keyed by the overhanging edges and of the blocks to hold the last placed sections in position, and with the base members having tongue and'groove joints, the bases are keyedto each other.

While the sections may be nailed or secured to the floor in any suitable manner, the key combination obviates the necessity of. fastenings at both sidesof the sections, it being sufficient to nail the outer edge of each section, as the inner edge is held to the former sections by its key j oint.

Withthe construction and arrangement described, when the floor is complete all of the blocks lie in close relation to each other to form a smooth floor; with the end grain of the blocks presented to wear, so that the usual splintering is obviated, with theresult that the floor will wear longer and more evenly than ordinary board flooring.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

1. A flooring comprising'a. base member and a plurality of wood blocks supported on the base member, with the end grain of the woo-d bearing on said member at the inner ends of the blocks and exposed to'wear at the outer ends of the blocks, the base memher and its series of blocks having one a dovetail groove and the other a dovetail rib, whereby the blocks are anchored to the base member.

2. The combination with floor sections arranged in longitudinal abutment, and each comprising a base member and individual blocks interlocked with the base member, the blocks having alining side grooves, and splines seated in the grooves in longitudinallyj abutting sections and spanning the sections, whereby the joints of the sections are interlocked longitudinally by the splines.

3. A flooring comprising a base member, and a series of blocks superimposed on said base member, the base member and series of blocks having one. a groove and the other a projection, with the projection interlocked with ,said groove, andthe said strip being adapted to form, with other like flooring 10 strips, :1 continuous surface.

In testimony whereof ll affix my signature.

CHARLES J. CARTER. 

